Keys to 62 newly built apartments in Srebrenik, Bosnia and Herzegovina were handed over to 164 displaced persons, former residents of the collective centres. The construction of the multi-apartment building is part of the larger EU supported project “Housing and Social Integration of Vulnerable Persons Living in Collective Centres”, implemented by the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The total value of the project is €107.6 million, with financing secured by the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) through a €60 million loan, complemented by €1.8 million in grants provided by the European Union and Western Balkans Investment Framework Bilateral Donors.

Under the project, the collective centres are being closed, and suitable alternative accommodation provided for 7,200 people. This involves the construction and renovation of 82 buildings in 45 municipalities and cities throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina.

So far, 540 housing units have been completed, and 423 beneficiary families moved into social housing units in 17 sub-projects, following the closure of eight collective centres and alternative accommodation locations. These housing solutions are provided to beneficiaries based on social, not-for-profit rental housing model or within institutional accommodation (welfare) centres.